A considerable amount of time is spent by bartenders, and others who are employed at cocktail lounges, restaurants and the like, in removing peel from citrus fruits, particularly lemons and limes, for use as "twists" for beverages. Machines have been proposed in the past to facilitate this and similar tasks, as evidenced by the following United States Patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 419,722, to Siersdorfer, discloses an apple corer and slicer, in which a plunger mechanism is used to force the apple downwardly over a cylindrical "gouge" and a set of radial blades.
Jahansan U.S. Pat. No. 943,249 provides a paring machine in which an array of cutting assemblies surround the path of movement of the potato to be peeled. Each assembly includes a pair of rollers and a blade having an upwardly angled cutting edge, the rollers serving to follow the surface of the potato and to limit penetration of the blade element; in the version of FIGS. 6 and 7, a single-level roller effect, provided by a pair of side-by-side rolls, is shown.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,001,931, to Cookson and 1,075,031, to Gianca both provide devices for use in connection with the cutting of pineapples. In Lyng U.S. Pat. No. 1,237,251, a potato peeling machine is disclosed in which the blades are disposed on the free ends of each of a circular array of inwardly extending spring-like arms, peeling being effected as the potato is forced downwardly along the axis of the machine hopper.
Polk, Jr. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,277,003 and Singer 2,396,444 both show devices for peeling fruit, wherein blade and knife elements function to slice and then peel away the rind.
A corn shreader is described in Calkins U.S. Pat. No. 2,521,115, which consists of a set of radially inwardly projecting spring stee) blades mounted upon a ring-like holder. Gerson U.S. Pat. No. 3,830,151 shows a device for sectioning lemons, tomatoes, and the like, utilizing a conical array of radial blades through which the fruit or vegetable is forced.
A hand peeler for fruit is provided by Gomez U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,287, in which a curved blade is mounted on a pivotable head between a pair of rollers; it may be used to produce peel for drinks. Ihlow U.S. Pat. No. the 4,545,297 discloses an onion peeling device which employs a set of pivotable arms, arranged in a circle and biased inwardly; a knife element on the upper end of each arm slits the outer skin, which is then peeled away by an adjacent end plate.
Despite the activity in the art indicated by the foregoing, a demand remains for a machine that is capable of quickly and efficiently cutting peel from fruit in strips, which is relatively uncomplicated and inexpensive to manufacture, easy to clean and assemble, and sufficiently durable to adequately withstand extensive use under commercial conditions.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel machine for cutting peel strips from fruit, which is highly efficient and yet convenient and easy to use.
It is a more specific object of the invention to provide such a machine which is of uncomplicated construction, rendering it relatively facile and inexpensive to manufacture and easy to disassemble and assemble for ready cleaning and, if necessary, replacement of parts.
A further object of the invention is to provide a machine having the foregoing features and advantages, which is inherently capable of accommodating different kinds and sizes of fruit.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a machine in which the strips of peel produced are of a uniform nature, and are neatly and conveniently collected and recovered.